Darius Neagoe won his first World Series of poker (WSOP) bracelet, therefore marking a major turning point in his poker career. Deftly overcoming a field of 458 players, he became triumphant in the 2024 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Event #11: €1,101 No- Limit Hold’em Turbo Bounty Hunter Along with the coveted WSOP bracelet, this victory brought him a nice top prize of €63, 650.
For Neagoe, the triumph marked a turning point since he battled his way through a fast-paced, short-stacked final table and clinched the contract by defeating Nikolay Traskevich in a quick heads-up confrontation on the very first hand. Neagoe, Traskevich, and third-place finisher Switzerland’s Michael Wingeyer finished the event with tickets to the €10,350 WSOP Europe Main Event.
Event #11 Final Table Results: €1,101 No- Limit Hold’em Turbo Bounty Hunter
- Darius Neagoe (Romania) – €63,650
- Nikolay Traskevich (Belarus) – €45,750
- Michael Wingeyer (Switzerland) – €34,450
- Paulo Costa (Portugal) – €16,700
- Aaron Duczak (Canada) – €11,900
- Holger Klock (Germany) – €8,600
- Mikkel Plum (Denmark) – €6,400
- Traian Stanciu (Romania) – €4,850
- De Han Kim (South Korea) – €3,775
- Giuseppe Rosa (Italy) – €3,020
Reactions of the Winner
Neagoe was ecstatic to have his first WSOP bracelet claimed. Grinning broadly, he said exactly how happy he was to have reached this mark.
Actually, I feel incredible. I’m quite glad as this is my first bracelet. With luck, it’s not the last! Neagoe answered eneristically.
He attributed his triumph immediately to the encouragement he got from his buddies, who had been supporting him from the rail all along the event. Neagoe claims that their support helped him to have a mental edge during the last run of the competition.
“I count it a blessing to have such outstanding pals at my side. Clearly appreciative of their attendance, he said, it definitely made a difference.
When asked which particular hands defined his run, Neagoe said there was no one really outstanding hand. Rather, he underlined the need of approaching problems one hand at a time, staying focused, and, with the cards in front of him, making the best options.
“There were not any really notable hands. It was all about keeping calm, one hand at a time, and making wise decisions, he said.
Neagoe is eager to see what the future holds for his WSOP career now that his first bracelet is fastened; he hopes this success is only the beginning.
On the last day, act
The stakes rose as the event got toward its last phases. 69 players were assured minimum €1,375 when late registration concluded. After Arturo Paduano and Paul Runcan were eliminated on the same hand within just two hours, the bubble collapsed and the remainder of the field sighed with relief as they were formally in the money.
Eliminations came fast once the players had guaranteed their paydays, particularly from those who were short-stacked and seeking to double down. The field thinned sharply over the next few stages. Among the well-known players who made deep runs but were finally knocked out were Or Nezer (26th – €1,790), Shaun Deeb (36th – €1,445), Dongwoo Ko (44th – €1,445), and Martin Zamani (61st – €1,375).
The energy dropped as the event drew toward the last three tables. Notable players like Vivian Saliba (19th – €1,790) and Simone Andrian (16th – €2,075) missed the last ten, thereby allowing the other competitors to fight it out for the top prize.
Final Table Fight-off
As the chip leader, Darius Neagoe arrived on the final table and spent no time claiming control. He drove his opponent—especially the middle stacks—into challenging circumstances by constant pressure. With an average stack size of about 10 big blinds, the final table action proceeded fast—as expected in a turbo configuration.
Giuseppe Rosa was the first player let go; Neagoe hit trips to send him packing. Soon after in ninth place during a three-way all-in, De Han Kim trailed. While Kim’s lower stack was finally no match for Traskevich’s ace-king, Mikkel Plum managed to quadruple up in that hand, finishing eighth.
Romania’s Traian Stanciu left in eighth place failing to defeat Aaron Duczak’s pocket jacks, so the eliminations kept on. Plum left next, having survived the previous three-way all-in; his four-big-blind stack was unable to resist Paulo Costa’s ace-high.
Soon after Neagoe’s attack, Holger Klock got his chips in with a powerful hand only to have Neagoe turn a straight to knock him out in sixth place. Next on the chopping board was Canada’s Aaron Duczak, whose ace-nine fell short of Neagoe’s king-queen, so flailing a pair of queens and sending Duczak home in fifth place.
One may have expected the play to settle down with the field reduced to four and the sought-after WSOPE Main Event tickets under auction. Still, the turbo arrangement kept the action flowing quickly. Costa got his chips in with ace-king and saw Traskevich strike a nice flush to send him fourth place. The three players that survived Costa guaranteed their places in the Main Event.
Closing Notes
Three players stayed as Neagoe kept his aggressive approach. Key hand, he shoved all-in with nine-seven of hearts from the button. Wingeyer chose to phone with pocket threes, but Neagoe’s hot streak persisted as a nine struck the flop sent Wingeyer out in third place.
Neagoe and Traskevich engaged in a very brief heads-up fight, just one hand. Traskevich pushed his five surviving large blinds with ten-eight of clubs, and Neagoe called with pocket fives. A five on the flop guaranteed Neagoe’s triumph and his first WSOP bracelet.
Neagoe celebrated with friends as the tournament came to a finish, relishing the occasion to be a WSOP champion. Neagoe’s triumph has shot him into the top ranks of Romania’s poker scene since he now wants to build on it in next tournaments.
